Last December, the United States and Belarus entered into an agreement that was hailed as a non-proliferation success. Under the deal, Belarus agreed to hand over several hundred kilograms of highly enriched uranium in its possession to Russia for downblending. But on August 19, Belarus announced that it was suspending the agreement in response to economic sanctions imposed by Washington over its crackdown on the opposition. READ MORE

A tug of war between Sofia and Moscow over Russia's controversial Belene nuclear power plant project in Bulgaria intensified in August with both sides bracing for a protracted legal battle. READ MORE